The Spirit of Elijah

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The End Times. There are three thing that the average person knows about the tribulation period. But what if these three things didn't happen. The first is the rapture of the church. This belief is widely held, but the Bible tells us exactly when this is to happen.
1st Corinthians Chapter 15 51-53
"Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal [must] put on immortality"
So this specifically states when the last trumpet sound is when the rapture occurs. If we look to Revelation, we see that the trumpet judgment is the last judgment. This cannot be talking about anything but the rapture of the Church and it specifically states when it will happen, period, there is no ambiguity of language. Pre-tribulation rapture theologians also like to point out that after Revelations 4:1 there is no reference to the church.
Here I would like to state a little something about my theological beliefs. I believe in multiple interpretations of the Bible. What I mean by that is, there are some places in the Bible that God is talking about David and this is symbolic of Jesus. That doesn't mean that what God is talking about doesn't also apply also to David. So there we have two different interpretations of the Bible, one literal and one symbolic that don't contradict each other.
The reason I mention this now is that I'm going to be talking about a symbolic interpretation of the Bible and I don't want you to be under the impression that I am saying that a literal interpretation also won't happen. I do believe that literal tribulation will occur and that many plagues mentioned in the Bible will take the lives of a third of the world. That being said, the symbolic plagues are worse.
When you look at most of the plagues in Revelation, you see a disturbing pattern. Angels (for this purpose it should be translated messenger) losing their place in heaven, a third of the stars falling from heaven, a third of the light of the sun and the moon darkened. A third of the grass burnt up. Symbolically, the messengers, the stars, the moon, and the grass all stand for the believer. The Sun is symbolic of God. Jesus talked about apostasy in the last days, and do you have to look far to see it, even in the church? If you compare today to 10, 20, 30, 40 or more years ago you see that in major category of sin there is more today than in the past. I would make one exception, and that is the sin of racism. This is worst than anything that could happen to people here on earth, for it destines people to Hell.
Harold Camping, who is part of Family Radio has made a claim that the church age is over. I think that you can say that it is over for at least a third of the churches that were reasonably accurate to God's word, which was not all of them to be sure. Could the reason that the Church is not mentioned? Is the church age over, or be so diminished that the believers outside of the church are more numerous then inside?
Another reason that people give for the pre tribulation rapture is that we don't know when Jesus is coming, while if he comes at the end of the tribulation period any fool with a calendar would be able to figure it out.
After Armageddon the Israelis are supposed to bury the dead attackers for seven years. How will this happen if the dead are either with Christ or are resurrected for judgment in Hell? Jesus therefore is not coming at the exact end of the Tribulation period, it will be at least seven years after no one will be expecting him. Another argument is that everyone is expecting the rapture at any moment.
The second is much less controversial; it is a war in the Middle East. There is no war in the Middle East until the second half of the tribulation, in fact Israel is said not to have walls (which it has now) because it lives in peace. I've never heard a theologian say that there will be a war in the Middle East at the start of the tribulation period, but every time a bomb drops near Lebanon people seem to think that the tribulation is starting.
The first two I am 100% sure about. The next point I want to make I am only 80% sure of. It is in regards to the mark of the beast. I don't believe that this verse should be taken literally. If you are alive in the period when there is a one world government and they say to you, "Hey take this mark or you can't buy or sell" then I was wrong, what ever you do don't take the mark, my point is not that it would be harmless, just I don't believe the theology of the rest of the Bible fits in with the two marks. Two marks? You say. Yes two marks!
13:16 He causes all, the small and the great, the rich and the poor, and the free and the slave, to be given marks on their right hands, or on their foreheads;
13:17 and that no one would be able to buy or to sell, unless he has that mark, the name of the beast or the number of his name.
13:18 Here is wisdom. He who has understanding, let him calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man. His number is six hundred sixty-six.
And then the forgotten verse:
14:1 I saw, and behold, the Lamb standing on Mount Zion, and with him a number, one hundred forty-four thousand, having his name, and the name of his Father, written on their foreheads.
So you can write the name of God on your forehead and be saved, whoohoo! This is gonna be easy. This mark is very easy to tell as being not a literal mark, isn't it? You don't have to have a doctorate in theology to understand that God's salvation plan doesn't work that way. This name of God I=on the forehead symbolizes God being in our thoughts, and the mark of the beast or Satan on our heads symbolizes Satan being in our thoughts. The arm is a symbol of the will, so it is virtually the same statement.
Why then the statement of the buying or selling without the mark. Perhaps it is the subject of another topic entirely. Namely, weather the Holly Roman Empire was the false prophet. The title for Pope was sometimes Vicar to God, Now, from the Webster Hand College Dictionary, the definition of the word Vicar:
1. portray; depict; describe.
2. play the role of; impersonate.
3. denote; symbolize; stand for.
4. speak and act for; *be a substitute for*.
5. set forth; assert.
6. be composed of; consist in.
So the title and antichrist have the same meaning, and in the original Latin, the letters that correspond to # in Roman Numerals add up to 666.
V I C A R I V S F I L I I D E I
5 1 100 1 5 1 50 1 1 500 1
This is important because in the days of the Holy Roman Empire the Catholic Church sold indulgences, which means you could commit a sin and for a certain amount of money they would say you were forgiven, so I think this is what is referred to here.
For those of you who haven't heard this before I'm sorry to say that this is another topic entirely and I have to address it separately. I would also like to add that a Catholic person may be saved, like anyone else, by faith in Jesus the living Word of God.